He'd just finished his match and blood stained his chest. He'd been facing Paul and it felt good to hurt that man. He didn't have a violent nature, sure he wrestled but that was more showmanship than all out fighting, that was, of course, until he was in a ring with Paul. He never held back his punches when they faced each other. Chris made sure he paid for every hurtful thing he said or did to Stephanie and hurt him a little more for every thought or action he would have of Stephanie.

Things had gotten heated during their match and Chris may have, accidently, broken Paul's nose. To be fair though, it was a big nose, it was hard to miss.

Chris had just fallen from the turn buckle and landed on the ring apron and the breath he had left him. He blinked and tried to focus but the lights were bright and he couldn't see anything. Is this what it's like for Stephanie? He didn't have time to think more on that thought because Paul had taken hold of his arm and he was twisting it behind his back. It hurt, he'd admit that, but he wouldn't tap.

"Like that has anything to do with you?" Chris spit out, trying to pull his arm free.

"Oh, it doesn't," Paul answered casually, tightening his grip on Chris's arm as he felt him start to break free. "I just didn't know they were your thing."

"They?" Chris asked his anger boiling.

"Yeah, you know, disabled people." Paul laughed. "She's hardly anything to look at - do you turn off the light and pretend to be blind when you're on top of her?"

The next thing Paul knew he was the one flat on his back and Chris's now free arm was swinging at him. Chris smiled as his fist connected with Paul's nose, he felt it crack and break and then there was just a sea of red. He reached down and gripped Paul's hair and pulled him up so that he was on his knees looking up at him. Chris's free hand gripped at Paul's jaw, his knuckles white as he glared down at the man. "You're a piece of shit," Chris spat. "Don't you ever talk about her like that do you hear me?" he asked. "Do you?" he yelled bringing Paul's face closer to his. He felt blood spill onto his chest, and he gritted his teeth in disgust.

"Fuck you!" Paul yelled as he groaned in pain.

"No," Chris spoke stonily. "You don't get it Paul, she's mine now. You think when I kicked your ass a few months back for tripping her up was bad, try something else and I'll kill you. I was only looking out for her back then, protecting her from assholes like you, but now I'm still protecting her, except now, you have the added fact that I love her and haven't you heard, you protect the ones you love, no matter what."

He sneered down at Paul and pushed him down. "You're pathetic."

Paul was just lying there holding his nose, so Chris ran and jumped on the middle rope and flew through the air.

His arm was raised in victory three seconds later. He'd won, but he felt like he'd got some sort of justice.

Vince would probably fine him or something, but he wasn't about to let Paul say things about Stephanie or his lackey's for that matter. He lifted an arm and ran it across his head, wiping away the layer of sweat that was there and then looked down. He really needed a shower. He reached his locker room and opened the door and looked up in surprise when he found not only Izzie and Stephanie in there but Shane as well. "Hey guys," he greeted. "I thought you all were in a meeting with Vince."

"Stephanie was preoccupied with your match." Shane informed him, with a slight smile as he watched the grin on Chris's face widened.

"Is that so Blue Eyes?" Chris wondered as he wandered over to where Stephanie sat and took her hand. He leaned down and kissed her before pulling back and reaching down to greet Izzie.

"Shane gave me a play by play," Stephanie answered smiling. "I'm glad you won."

"Paul's hardly a challenge." Chris commented, his eyes darkening at the thought of the man. "He's more a pain in the ass, if anything."

"True." Both Stephanie and Shane answered at the same time, causing all three of them to laugh.

"Funny." Chris smirked, leaning back down to Stephanie and kissing her again. "I won't be long," he whispered, letting her reach up and trace a finger down his jaw. "I'll miss you though."

"Me too." Stephanie whispered back, and Shane cleared his throat and they both laughed as they pulled apart.

"Sorry man," Chris commented as he walked backwards towards the bathroom. "Can't control myself when she's around, girl's got my heart." He told him before disappearing into the other room.

Shane watched Stephanie for a little bit after Chris had left and he liked the smile of Stephanie's face. He hadn't realised it, but it had been missing for such a long time, and if Chris brought it out then he couldn't possibly be that bad for his sister. He didn't trust Chris a hundred percent yet, but the whole two percent he didn't, was mostly due to his big brother duties. He knew he made Stephanie happy and really, wasn't that what mattered?

"I'm glad you're happy," Shane told Stephanie as his hand reached out to her and pulled her into a one armed hug. "I like seeing you smile."

"I smile." Stephanie commented.

"I know," Shane replied. "But you never looked as happy as you did when you smiled at him just then."

"I feel like I'm going to burst." Stephanie explained with a happy sigh. "Like everything I'm feeling keeps building and when I talk to him or he holds me or reads to me it's another moment that I can add and it's overflowing Shane. It's at the brim, ready to spill and I just want to tell him."

"Then tell him."

"We've only been dating for such a short time." Stephanie confessed. "What if it's too soon? What if I scare him away?"

"The way he looks at you Steph," Shane told her. "That's not possible."

"Yeah?" Stephanie questioned.

"He looks at you like I look at Marissa." He explained. "I love Marissa."

Stephanie smiled at that, she hoped Chris felt the same way she did. "He writes about me."

"Writes?"

"Yeah," Stephanie spoke. "He read them to me today. They should be on the table."

"Can I read one?" Shane wondered.

"If you want to."

Shane moved his arm from around Stephanie and reached forward and picked a sheet of paper up from the pile that surrounded the table.

"What one is it?" Stephanie questioned.

"Two Left Feet and Four Paws." Shane answered.

Stephanie giggled. "I love this one. Read it too me, please."

"Okay," Shane agreed with a laugh of his own. "I watch as she walks, she has the grace of a klutz. Not because of her eyes, I think if she saw she would still stumble. If she let me, I'd catch her, forever and always. But she doesn't. She doesn't know I watch, she doesn't know my name, and she doesn't know I exist. So for now I'll watch from afar, I'll make sure she'll get up from her fall, I'll even reach out and grasp her to stop the fall if I can. I'll watch because those four paws protect her, guide her, and love her. A coat of blond is her armour and that armour is strong, it plans a path and leads for point A to point B. One day, I'll be point B and those four paws will lead those two left feet to me."

"He loves Izzie."

"Seems like she's not the only one he loves." Shane commented rereading Chris's writing one more time. There were piles of it on the table in front of him and if they were all like this, then he didn't need to worry about the two percent of distrust he had, it was slowly evaporating. Chris wasn't in this for glory and a title, he was in this for Stephanie and Stephanie alone. And maybe Izzie too.

He looked up as Chris appeared once again, only with a fresh change of clothes and a smile directed towards Stephanie.

"I didn't keep you guys waiting long did I?" Chris asked, announcing his presence to Stephanie.

"Nah," Shane told him, standing and walking over to Chris. "But I still think she missed you." He joked with a grin.

"Shane," Stephanie exclaimed. "Shut up!"

Both Chris and Shane laughed again before Shane told them he had to go deal with some changes to the roster. But before he left he grasped Chris's shoulder and leaned into him so Stephanie couldn't hear as he told Chris, "Welcome to the family."

Chris looked confused and was about to comment, but Shane left before he had a chance. Shrugging to himself he made his way over to where Stephanie sat and sat down beside her. "Hey beautiful." He murmured into her ear and he slipped an arm around her waist before leaning back so that he was lying back on the sofa and Stephanie was lying with her head resting on his shoulder.

"Hi," she replied, smiling up at him.

He reached a hand up and brushed away some hair that had fallen across her face. "So I have something to tell you."

Stephanie frowned. "What is it?"

"It's about all this travelling I've been doing."

"Oh." Stephanie sounded out bowing her head a little. She knew where this was going, travelling was exhausting and Chris was champion and he needed his rest, so he was going to cut back. He was going to stay in Florida while she was in Connecticut and then see her at Raw tapings and maybe a few days here and there. She was going to miss him.

"Yeah," Chris began. "I'm getting annoyed with the whole flying back to Florida to pay bills and take care of some business down there and getting clothes and stuff. So, I was thinking and I came up with a solution."

"Well, you have to do what's best for you." Stephanie pointed out.

"I'm glad you agree." Chris told her with a grin.

"Yeah," Stephanie replied sadly.

"What I came up with is," he started, running his fingers through Stephanie's hair. "Was moving to Connecticut and buying a house here."

"Excuse me?" Stephanie asked, pulling out of Chris's embrace to sit up. Had she just heard correctly?

"I won't if you don't want me too," Chris backtracked, taking her reaction as something negative. "It was only an idea. I just," he faltered. "I just like being around you."

Chris's head whipped up so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. "Wha…Um…You," he stuttered and then he felt the shock fall away as a smile replaced it. "You love me?"

"Yes."

He breathed out, and his arms found Stephanie once again and he pulled her into him and kissed her. "I love you too."

"So you're not just with me because you secretly want to steal Izzie, right?" Stephanie joked as she felt them both lay back onto the sofa like they had been previously. She'd never felt so happy before, but she guessed she was finally bursting and bursting felt light and heady. She thinks Chris feels the same way, his heartbeat had quickened and it vibrated through her fingers. She took that as a good sign.

"No," Chris told her. "But she is a pretty sweet part of this whole relationship." He admitted as he let his hand fall down to the side and find Izzie's head.

All three of them painted a picture that was close to perfect. They were content to just lay there and enjoy each other, comfortable to talk about the random things that came to mind – which was a recurring three word phrase. But like all good things, that ended with a knock on the door.

Chris looked up as the door to his locker room opened and then there was Jay and Trish standing with awkward smiles plastered on their faces.

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